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Why measure social capital? Policy interest in improving community well being –Civil renewal: Local people involved in identifying and solving problems affecting their community –Community cohesion: Promoting a sense of belonging Valuing diversity in others Similar life opportunities

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Why harmonise? Enables consistent measurement, analysis and interpretation Better understanding of society –Trends over time –Comparison between local and national studies

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Five main aspects of social capital –social participation involvement in groups & voluntary activities, religious activity –civic participation voting, taking action on local or national issues, writing to council or MP

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Five main aspects of social capital –social networks and support contact with friends & relatives, frequency of contact, exchange of help, number living close by –reciprocity and trust giving and receiving favours, trust in other people – like you and not like you, trust in institutions, shared values

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Five main aspects of social capital –views about the local area physical environment, facilities in the area, enjoyment in living in the area, concern about anti-social behaviour

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Harmonised question set Standardised set of questions Agreed by a cross-department working group Drew on earlier measures, including HDA/GHS, HO Citizenship Survey Two forms: –Full question set (around 50 questions) –Core question set (15 questions)

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Harmonised question set For use in household surveys: –Run in GHS 2004 –To be run on: HO Citizenship Survey 2007, Survey of English Housing, Health Survey for England (older people module) 2005, Families and Children Survey 2005 Also being used in local surveys: –Liverpool and Camden councils

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ONS work programme Bridging social capital –Literature review, plus list of questions specific to bridging Conversion of HQS from CAPI to self-completion Trust and participation in diverse communities Analysis of GHS 2004 module and publication of report –Baseline data on dimensions of social capital in GB